I thought I would post a step-by-step planted tank setup. I will take you through it all, every detail, with pics; well, with my crappy digi cam permitting. Please excuse the sub-par pic quality.
It's really easy to do, and I recommend starting out with a small tank because if you're a rookie, you don't want to get discouraged if things aren't working out. Not only is it cheaper, it's not near as much work as say a 75g. This way you can get a handle on things (and keep it) if things get hairy.
Let's get started!
Here's the goods! I'm breaking down a simple fish only tank. Notice the plain gravel that's about to get replaced with 1 bag of Flourite Onyx sand.
Clean clean! The bucket on the right is old tank water. Old, new, it doesn't matter.
Alrighty! See that bucket with the old gravel and mulm in there? I'm hanging on to it for a couple of days. Why? There's good bacteria in there! You can use it to "seed" the new tank if you feel you need to do so. If you have mail-order plants, they will look like poo and will not properly absorb ammonia from the fish until they grow in. What if you need to put your fish right back in (as I will be doing)? Heaven forbid we upset the fish gods and not properly cycle the tank first. Bacteria in a bucket: your solution!
Hey! Ain't you gonna rinse that first? NO! Why wash all the good stuff away? It's gonna cloud the water regardless, trust me.
Up close pic of the Flourite Onyx sand:
Time to add some water! Make sure you use dechlorinated water. This is what your tank will look like when it's time to plant your plants. The blue hue is the 32 watt power compact 50/50 bulb: 50% 10K, 50% actinic (18K). Eventually, I will change this to 6700K.
My plant pics did not turn out. I apologize. Nevertheless, this is where you plant the plants. I will fill you in on what I'm going to be using in a couple of days. This tank will use glosso for the lawn. Why? A ten gallon is not very tall. You don't want 6" of E. Tennelus covering up 40% of the space. You want to concentrate on making the tank look and feel like it has more space than it really does, or you could plant a jungle if you are so inclined! I will choose the former.
Here's the tank when filled (mostly) and planted. Where's the plants? I promise they are in there! Gimme a couple of days! See that white-ish thing at the bottom of the tank? That's filter floss wrapped around the intake of my filter tube! I don't think I need to explain why...
So, there we have it for day 1. It took me about an hour and a half to do this.
Equipment:
10g tank
Regent 20-40 power filter
No heater. The ambient temp in my room stays plenty warm.
Custom Sea-Life PC retrofit kit, 32 watts. I'm not sure what I'll do for lighting yet, but the actinic has got to go.
Plants:
My own stock. I'm getting in some more Thursday or Friday, including the Glosso, along with Didiplis diandra & Rotalla wallichii.
Future plans:
Clear the water.
Add pressurized CO2; no ferts!
Get new plants & rearrange layout.
Possibly fish. We'll see. I have no idea what I'm going to use, except for 2 Yo-Yo loaches, otocinclus, and Amano shrimp.
Stay tuned for the next episode, hopefully on Friday (since I don't have a Valentine ((yet)) )
Questions? Ask away!
It's really easy to do, and I recommend starting out with a small tank because if you're a rookie, you don't want to get discouraged if things aren't working out. Not only is it cheaper, it's not near as much work as say a 75g. This way you can get a handle on things (and keep it) if things get hairy.
Let's get started!
Here's the goods! I'm breaking down a simple fish only tank. Notice the plain gravel that's about to get replaced with 1 bag of Flourite Onyx sand.
Clean clean! The bucket on the right is old tank water. Old, new, it doesn't matter.
Alrighty! See that bucket with the old gravel and mulm in there? I'm hanging on to it for a couple of days. Why? There's good bacteria in there! You can use it to "seed" the new tank if you feel you need to do so. If you have mail-order plants, they will look like poo and will not properly absorb ammonia from the fish until they grow in. What if you need to put your fish right back in (as I will be doing)? Heaven forbid we upset the fish gods and not properly cycle the tank first. Bacteria in a bucket: your solution!
Hey! Ain't you gonna rinse that first? NO! Why wash all the good stuff away? It's gonna cloud the water regardless, trust me.
Up close pic of the Flourite Onyx sand:
Time to add some water! Make sure you use dechlorinated water. This is what your tank will look like when it's time to plant your plants. The blue hue is the 32 watt power compact 50/50 bulb: 50% 10K, 50% actinic (18K). Eventually, I will change this to 6700K.
My plant pics did not turn out. I apologize. Nevertheless, this is where you plant the plants. I will fill you in on what I'm going to be using in a couple of days. This tank will use glosso for the lawn. Why? A ten gallon is not very tall. You don't want 6" of E. Tennelus covering up 40% of the space. You want to concentrate on making the tank look and feel like it has more space than it really does, or you could plant a jungle if you are so inclined! I will choose the former.
Here's the tank when filled (mostly) and planted. Where's the plants? I promise they are in there! Gimme a couple of days! See that white-ish thing at the bottom of the tank? That's filter floss wrapped around the intake of my filter tube! I don't think I need to explain why...
So, there we have it for day 1. It took me about an hour and a half to do this.
Equipment:
10g tank
Regent 20-40 power filter
No heater. The ambient temp in my room stays plenty warm.
Custom Sea-Life PC retrofit kit, 32 watts. I'm not sure what I'll do for lighting yet, but the actinic has got to go.
Plants:
My own stock. I'm getting in some more Thursday or Friday, including the Glosso, along with Didiplis diandra & Rotalla wallichii.
Future plans:
Clear the water.
Add pressurized CO2; no ferts!
Get new plants & rearrange layout.
Possibly fish. We'll see. I have no idea what I'm going to use, except for 2 Yo-Yo loaches, otocinclus, and Amano shrimp.
Stay tuned for the next episode, hopefully on Friday (since I don't have a Valentine ((yet)) )
Questions? Ask away!
Last edited:
